NYRA changes stance on Churchill herpesvirus problem; O Besos scratched from Cigar Mile

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Seven horses were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, but the ink was barely dry on the overnight when one had to scratch.

O Besos, most recently fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, will not be permitted to run after five horses tested positive for equine herpesvirus in a barn at Churchill Downs, according to Greg Foley, the trainer of O Besos. That barn, which had 14 horses in it, had been placed under quarantine on Tuesday.

While O Besos was not stabled in the barn where those horses tested positive, he was, up until around 2 p.m. Wednesday, stabled at Churchill Downs. Before the confirmation of those positive tests, the New York Racing Association was going to allow O Besos - and any Churchill-based runner not in the quarantine barn - to ship to NYRA tracks. But just before 6 p.m. NYRA put out a text to horsemen that read “NYRA is not accepting shippers from Churchill Downs until further notice.”

Foley said O Besos was halfway to New York by van when he got the call from NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes that he could not run.

“Very disappointing, we’ve been planning on it and I just had to call the owners to cancel their plans,” Foley said Wednesday night. “I thought we had a big shot, it was a good spot for a Grade 1, $750,000. Very disappointing, but that’s the way it is.”

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Foley said O Besos would be allowed to return to Churchill Downs.

Another horse was expected to run in the Cigar Mile, but Baby Yoda was not entered after developing a 104-degree temperature, according to part-owner Adam Wachtel.

Thus, the Cigar Mile will run with six horses, led by multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Control, Grade 1-winning 3-year-olds Zandon and White Abarrio, the Grade 1 winner Get Her Number, Grade 3 Kelso winner Double Crown, and the claimer Outlier.

Mind Control, the 122-pound highweight trained by five-time Cigar Mile winner. Todd Pletcher, drew the outside post and will be ridden by John Velazquez.

The Cigar Mile will go as race 9 on a 10-race program that will include the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand.

Tuskegee Airmen, who has gone 2 for 2, heads a field of seven entered in the Remsen. A son of Street Sense trained by John Servis, Tuskegee Airmen won a seven-furlong maiden race at Parx on Sept. 24 and the Rocky Run Stakes at Delaware Park on Oct. 15.

He will face a field that includes Rocky Run runner-up Midnight Trouble, Sleepy Hollow Stakes one-two finishers Arctic Arrogance and Quick To Accuse, and maiden winners Dubyuhnell, Il Miracolo, and Prove Right.

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Julia Shining, a full sister to champion Malathaat, heads a field of seven 2-year-old fillies entered in the Demoiselle. Julia Shining was an eye-catching last-to-first winner going seven furlongs at Keeneland in her debut.

Julia Shining will face Tempted runner-up Foggy Night, New York-bred stakes winner Gambling Girl, maiden winners Royal Spa and Tribal Queen, and the maiden Affirmative Lady in the Demoiselle.

Battle Bling, winner of the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm, heads an 11-horse field entered in the Go for Wand, a one-turn mile race for fillies and mares. The field includes Love in the Air, a winner of two straight Pennsylvania-bred stakes at Parx; Dr B, runner-up in the Pumpkin Pie Stakes; California shipper Sharapova, unraced since a last-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita in April; and Self Isolation, a winner of three straight races, the last two for owner-trainer David Jacobson.

Betsy Blue, first or second in 15 of 18 starts, mostly in New York-bred company, and Bank Sting, a five-time stakes winner in restricted company, were also entered in the Go for Wand. Bank Sting is nominated to a pair of New York Stallion Stakes to be run here Sunday.

Others entered in the Go for Wand are Exotic West, Flight to Shanghai, Tonal Vision, and W W Fitzy.

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